Originally posted November 26 on Instagram
More information has been uncovered about the suspects and the hours leading up to the theft at the Louvre.
The two thieves who cut through the glass and entered the Galerie d’Apollon were friends before the crime. A.N. claimed he didn’t know he was robbing the Louvre as he cut into the glass. A. G. said he was asked to join the crime the day before. All the suspects have stayed silent about the location of the jewels.
The getaway scooter accomplices were Slimane and the newest arrest, a man investigators have called XH4. Two arrested individuals said the orchestrator had a Slavic accent and offered them 15,000 euros each. Investigators found a series of disposable phones used in planning. Phone data from September 22, 23, and 29 placed them around the Louvre, showing more premeditation than they admitted.
The furniture lift used to reach the Galerie d’Apollon balcony was stolen in Louvres. Through the phone data, it was discovered that on October 2, the thieves contacted multiple lift-rental agents around Paris. They set a meeting for October 10, where they threatened the owner, demanded the location of the lift’s tracker, and destroyed it.
A detailed timeline, based on public and private videos, reconstructs the morning of October 19. At 7:30 am, two thieves wearing helmets left Aubervilliers—one on a Suzuki Burgman scooter, the other in a white Citroën Berlingo van. They drove to Ivry-sur-Seine and left the van near the Seine. The van driver switched to the scooter and returned to Aubervilliers.
At 8:30 am, the Suzuki scooter and the Nacelle lift left Aubervilliers. At the same time, another thief rode a BMW scooter from Aubervilliers to Pantin, dumped it, and got on a Yamaha scooter driven by an accomplice. The four met in Bercy and headed to the Louvre.
New details confirm the crown of Empress Eugénie was dropped as they climbed down into the ditch, not because it broke during removal. Once on the ground, the jewel bags were passed to the scooter drivers, while the other two tried to set the lift on fire but were startled by approaching security.
The fourth suspect’s arrest on Tuesday also included his brother, sister, and a female friend.